


On Behalf of the Souls

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe- non magic, Blind Character, Blind Sirius, First Kiss, First Meeting, Fluff, Homophobic Language, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, football player James, pubs, spine injury Remus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-13 03:52:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5693545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Remus gets into an unwitting row with a couple of drunk men at the pub, the last thing he expects is for the gorgeous person at the end of the bar to come to his rescue.  But the Universe seems to be interested in seeing them together, as Sirius Black finds something he likes very much about Remus Lupin, and aims to keep him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Behalf of the Souls

**Author's Note:**

> So this is for two things--the anon who wanted a Blind Sirius who rescues Remus at a pub from some uncomfortable situation.  
> Also because I reached 600 followers on Tumblr tonight, so posting a quick fic. It's a bit on the shorter side, threw it together in about an hour, so any mistakes are mine. I probably won't be posting much, if anything, for the next few days. But i wanted to say thank you somehow.
> 
> x

“Look, I have thirty minutes to finish up my paperwork and the stuff in the back. Please just…wait for me. Please.”

With a groan, Remus glanced up at the telly, then round the pub at the people who were too bloody invested in the match. He could hear blokes arguing over money they had on the match—a lot by the sound of how angry they were. The tension was high, and several times Remus had been elbowed hard by blokes trying to get pints from Mary who was struggling to keep up.

The match, apparently, was determining who was going to make it to the cup. Or whatever it was—Remus didn’t know sport at all. But apparently there was a team in the running—one who wasn’t playing but could win if one of the other teams tonight lost by a certain margin. Remus was a physics student, and could maths with the best of them, but never quite understood sport rules or logic.

Either way, it was absolutely mad.

Round the other side of the bar were two blokes Remus had been watching for part of the night. One was a tall bloke with dark brown skin and wild hair, wearing rectangle glasses and an expression on his face like he might be ill at any given second. He looked familiar almost, and Remus wondered if maybe he was on the telly or something. He had a famous air about him, and people had been giving him the eye all evening—a few people even daring to approach before his companion’s angry words sent them off.

Remus was staring at the friend though. He was shorter, narrow grey eyes, long black hair in a plait down his back. He was wearing a tunic-like white shirt which cinched a few inches below his elbow. His fingers thrumming on the bar were very long, the nails painted a violent red, and his face looked like it did belong on the cover of magazines. He had sharp-cut cheekbones, full lips with a gorgeous bow, a rounded nose, and narrow eyes which, from where Remus was sitting, looked to be a rather fantastic shade of grey.

In short, he was gorgeous, even with his mouth curving round curses every time someone dared come near his friend.

Remus went unnoticed as he often did. People usually only stared at his scars from the accident when he was a kid which left him with a spine injury and permanent stiffness in both legs. But he was incredibly tall, tanned skin, a thatch of very dark, impossible curls, dark, thick brows, and large nose he inherited from his father, and freckles and small overbite he inherited from his Welsh mother. In short, he’d always known he was nothing special to look at aside from a passing glance and the looks flashing in their eyes of, “Wonder what happened to him?”

He was well used to it. His relationships often short lived and boring leaving him preferring to be alone than to try to make something work that was destined not to.

He sighed and wrapped his hand round his pint. Taking a sip, he was jostled rudely by one of the men clambering to the bar, and he shifted slightly.

“Problem, mate?” the man—clearly pissed—grumbled in his face.

Remus sighed. “No, no problem. Just…”

“Just what, mate? Just sat here with your fucking pouf jumper?” The man leant down and grinned. “Lads, I think this bloke’s lost.”

Remus clenched his jaw and knew he’d make a break for it, but his legs wouldn’t allow for a fast get-away. “Listen, I’m just having a pint. I’ll shift over so you can…”

“Shift, he says,” the man replied with a laugh, and slung his arm round the second one who’d come over. “Think he means shirt-lifter.”

Remus groaned. Who even used that term anymore? He glanced round for Mary, but she was nowhere in sight. “Listen, I don’t want any problems…”

“But what if we do, yeah? What if we gots a problem with a fucking pouf coming in our pub, on our night…”

The man’s words were cut off almost instantly as he was shoved forward. Hard. The half-full pint he was holding sloshed forward onto his jeans, and he turned his head, furious as he was shoved away from his friend by, to Remus’ incredible surprise, the gorgeous one at the end of the bar. To his second surprise, Remus noticed he was also carrying a very distinct white cane.

He was blind.

“Problem here, lads?” he asked.

The two men stared gobsmacked, and when they didn’t answer, he took three steps backward until he bumped into Remus. “These blokes giving you a problem?”

Remus coughed. “Er. A bit?”

“Listen mate,” the taller one tried.

The gorgeous one was having none of it. He reached out and with strange precision, slapped the pint out of the taller one’s hand. Then reached out, his knuckles skimming the bar til he touched Remus’ drink, and threw it at the both of them. It hit them in the face with incredible accuracy, and Remus stared, wide-eyed and a bit shocked.

“You fucking piece of shit,” the taller one said, and swung. 

He landed a punch on the gorgeous one. Just a single punch before the tall Indian bloke wandered over almost lazily, and in a loud voice said, “Are you punching a blind person?”

The entire pub froze, and a funny quiet fell over the crowd. The two men went red in the face. “He attacked us! Look at my jeans!”

The Indian bloke raised a brow. “The blind person attacked _you_? Go on, give us another one, mate. That’s the worst excuse I’ve ever heard for attacking someone who can’t see a punch coming. Look, he’s bleeding.”

Remus couldn’t help but peer over and saw the trickle of blood, and though it was alarming, he was confused by how calm the taller man sounded, and the fact that the two rude blokes were red in the face and hurrying away.

Remus coughed, and the gorgeous one turned to him. “Sorry about your pint. Order another, put it on Jamie’s tab.”

Someone behind Remus whispered, “James Potter?” and Remus vaguely remembered hearing that name before.

“Er. I’m…I’m alright. I’m just waiting for my friend to be done with her shift,” Remus stammered, and then stared as both of them took seats directly next to him.

“I’m Sirius, and the tosser who stood back whilst I have to fight all the battles for us is James.”

Remus swallowed, then said, “Er. Remus. Nice to meet you. And thanks, I suppose?”

“We don’t tolerate that bigotry shite,” James said, leaning over Sirius toward Remus. “You alright, mate? You look a little shaken up.”

Remus rubbed his face then sighed and nodded a thanks when his pint was wordlessly replaced. “I’m alright, yeah. Just…it’s been a long night and the last thing I needed was some pub brawl.”

Sirius leant over toward him, reaching out a hand until he found his shoulder, then clasped it gently. “No one needs that shite. Jamie here’s all nerves.”

“Can you not, Sirius,” James complained. “I can’t…it’s too…” His face was scrunched up and he squeezed his eyes shut behind his glasses. “I can’t take it.”

“You alright?” Remus asked, trying to take the focus off himself, and off the fact that Sirius hadn’t let his shoulder go and it felt really good.

“He’s waiting to see if his team won.”

“Team?” Remus echoed.

“Yeah. He plays for West Ham. So if Arsenal beats Chelsea tonight with a twenty point margin, West Ham wins the cup.”

“You…play football? Professional football?” Remus said. “Shite, no wonder it looks like your stomach is trying to crawl out through your toes.”

James gave a high laugh. “I…need…I need a fag and I can’t have one so I’m going to ring Lily and make her calm me down. You alright here, love?” he asked Sirius, touching him briefly on the hand.

“Absolutely,” Sirius said. “My new best mate Remus here is taking good care of me.”

Remus choked on his swallow of beer, but James was on his feet and rushing toward the back exit. “Wow, is he going to be okay? And erm…new best friend, am I?”

“I just saved your arse, you know,” Sirius said, sniffing.

Remus couldn’t help a small laugh. “Okay fair enough, you did. Thanks for that, actually. I…my friend Mary asked me to wait here for her and I bloody knew one of these footie-obsessed shitheads was going to say something.”

“Have that look, do you?” Sirius asked, his smile almost wolfish. He tapped his polished nails on the bar top again.

“Swotty and bland, yeah,” Remus said. “I think my jumper offended them.”

“Is it an ugly Christmas one?” Sirius reached out, running his hand along the soft fabric. “Feels nice. Cosy.”

Remus flushed a little, wanting to push him arm up harder into Sirius’ hand. He swallowed, then cleared his throat. “So erm, you do that a lot? Rescue blokes from massive homophobes?”

Sirius shrugged, his tongue darting out to inspect the small cut along his bottom lip. “I’ve been known to, from time to time. Jamie thinks I’m reckless. But I only pick fights I know I can win.”

Remus laughed. “Ah well…good thing you were here then. My hero. I ought to be buying you a drink.”

Before Sirius could answer, his mobile rang and he shifted over to take the call. Remus licked his lips, forcing himself to put his attention elsewhere so he wouldn’t be a bother, and he saw Mary poking her head out the door. She looked pink in the cheeks and very apologetic. 

“Peter’s showed up,” she said, hurrying over. “He’s out back with the car waiting for me.”

Remus eyes went wide. “So you dragged me to this bloody awful night here at the pub only to not need me at all?”

“Still love me?” she begged.

Remus rolled his eyes. “You are so lucky, you know that.”

She quickly put a kiss on his cheek, then glanced over at Sirius who was still chatting away. “Might not be such bad luck after all though?” She winked, tucking her bag under her arm, and hurried away.

Burying his face in his hands, Remus rested his elbows on the bar and let out a long-suffering sigh. He stayed that way until a cautious hand touched him again, and he turned his head slightly to see Sirius leaning toward him.

“James left. He bailed on me.”

Remus’ eyes went wide. “He what?”

“Well I might have told him to fuck off because he was driving me mad about this fucking match. And I was hoping that you might feel obligated to walk me home? Since I saved you from an untimely death and all that.”

Remus dropped his hands. “Untimely death, was it?”

“Well, that’s how I plan on telling the story from now on,” Sirius replied with a wide grin.

“Christ,” Remus muttered, but he couldn’t help a small smile in return. “Well lucky for you, the friend I was waiting for just left with her boyfriend, so I’m on my own. And I have a car so I could drive you.”

“Well, it’s as if the universe planned it, isn’t that right?” Sirius said with a grin. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his card to pay for his tab, then scribbled a signature haphazardly on the receipt before hopping off the stool. “Hope you’re done with your pint, because I want to get the bloody fuck out of here before the match is over and these wankers go mad.”

Remus wasn’t done, but the prospect of leaving before another incident happened was far too great. He felt in his pockets for his keys, then hopped off the stool, steadying himself on the bar as Sirius grabbed his cane and clicked it into place.

“Mind if I take your arm? This is not our usual pub and I’m a bit lost.”

Remus swallowed. “Erm no. But the thing is I’ve got…it’s…I…” He cleared his throat. “I’ve a spine injury so I’ve got a bit of a limp. And I walk slow. Very slow. So I’m not sure you should trust me to do a good job.”

Sirius’ grin softened a little as he reached out, found Remus’ arm, and curled his long fingers around it. “I’m not fussed if you’re slow. I trust you.”

Remus flushed all over, but didn’t protest further as they carefully manoeuvred round tables and people toward the main door. Remus had found alright parking not too far, and he begged his legs to just get him there without incident. Sirius, for his part, really didn’t seem bothered at all, and chatted lightly as they made their way to where Remus’ car was parked.

“This is me,” he said.

Sirius put his hand on the boot, then walked himself round to the other side as Remus unlocked it. They were both in, and Sirius pulled out his mobile, tapping on the screen for several moments. “Obviously I’d be shite at directions, so we can use my GPS.”

Remus laughed. “Ah, good idea. Clever you, Sirius.”

Sirius grinned and Remus felt his heart patter against his ribs again. He was ridiculously good looking, and Remus just wanted to snog his grinning face off. 

Instead of giving in to his urges, he switched on the car, and to his dismay, found Sirius’ flat was only ten minutes away. The traffic was shite as usual, but because most people were in the pubs for the match instead of on the streets, they arrived without much incident, and Remus pulled up to the kerb.

“Well,” Remus said carefully.

“Come up for tea,” Sirius said immediately. “Come on. I got punched, you almost got punched. The pub was loud, our friends were crap. Let’s have tea and I can learn a little more about my new best mate.”

Remus laughed. “Christ. You know I’m not a very good best mate. At least not compared to James Potter.”

Sirius snorted. “James Potter is a sodding arse. I mean I love him, he’s family. But he’ll be easy to replace. Now, is that a yes?”

Remus bit his bottom lip, then let out a breath. “Yeah, alright. I mean like you said, the universe obviously wanted us to meet.”

Sirius’ grin turned into a full-blown smile as he pushed the door open and got out. Remus followed suit, and was carefully making his way after Sirius into the building. “Normally I take the stairs, but there’s a lift,” Sirius said, leading the way down a small corridor to a pair of metal doors. He reached out, finding the button, and pressed it.

“Thanks,” Remus muttered.

Sirius reached for him, and Remus found himself reaching back. “No worries, mate. Really.”

The doors pinged open, and the pair got in, Sirius running his fingers over the braille tags until he got to the number four. He pushed the button, and the lift clanked and crawled its way up.

“Christ, if this thing plummets to the ground, just know I’ve always loved you, Remus,” Sirius said, clinging to him.

Remus laughed and squeezed his hand. “I appreciate the sentiment.”

“And yet my love is unreturned,” Sirius moaned. 

Luckily for them the lift reached the floor without incident, and they stepped into the corridor. Sirius made his way round the corner, to flat M. He opened the door, his hand fumbling along the wall until it reached a light switch, and the room was flooded with a soft, yellow glow. 

“Lights on?” he asked as he hung his cane on a small hook by the door.

“Er, yes,” Remus said, and looked round. The place was minimalist, which Remus reckoned was easiest for Sirius to deal with. It was great-room style, where the lounge flowed into the dining area which opened to the kitchen. There was a small island in the centre where tall barstools sat, and everything was very neat and tidy.

In the lounge there was a long, plush sofa under the window, and a large telly mounted to the walls. Sirius also had a tall set-up with a turntable and massive speakers, and shelves upon shelves of what looked like vinyl records.

“So this is me,” Sirius said as he closed the door. “Just a few rules, really. Don’t move anything, don’t leave anything lying in the middle of the floor, and no shagging on the sofa.”

“I’m sorry, the last is absolutely unreasonable. I have to go immediately, right now,” Remus said, his nerves loosening his tongue a bit.

Sirius froze, then threw his head back and laughed. “Fuck. I knew I was going to like you. I told Jamie I had to rescue you because I knew I was going to like you.”

“How d’you figure. I hadn’t said a word.”

“You had. You were chatting to your bartender friend and you were quite rude which I find to be a lovely trait in a new best friend.” Sirius reached out to squeeze his arm before making his way to the kitchen and, to his credit, actually did put on the kettle. “Alright, I have regular and herbal. So the question is, caffeine or none?”

“Have you got mint?” Remus asked.

“I do. And honey,” Sirius said, his hands going into his cabinets and producing a box of the mint, and a small pot of honey. He brought out two mugs and then turned to Remus. “Go sit on my shag-less sofa and wait for me. My kitchen is all cold and boring, and does not lead to decent conversation.”

Remus laughed. “Fair enough, but I still think your rule is unreasonable.” He carefully made his way across the floor, wishing a bit he’d brought his cane but he’d been having such a good leg day until the twats at the bar stressed him out. Now he felt stiff with tension and his feet didn’t want to move properly.

Cursing quietly under his breath, he finally dropped onto the corner of the sofa and let out a small sigh. It was absolutely as comfortable as it looked. “I think I’ll be mates with you for the sofa alone,” he called out.

Sirius’ head popped round the corner. “They all say that. No one wants me for my delightful personality and criminal good looks. It’s always about the bloody sofa.”

Remus chuckled, leaning his head back until Sirius came round the corner, holding the tea. “Alright, where are you?”

“Erm. Left side. Your left,” he clarified.

Sirius adjusted his stride, and a few moments later was setting the tea on the low table, and easing himself onto the cushion directly next to Remus. They took a few moments to enjoy the quiet of the flat, unwinding from the chaos of the pub, and when Sirius leant back, he had his shoulder pressed to Remus’.

“So, feel any better?”

Remus sighed after his sip of the hot brew. “Much, actually. Sometimes my legs are better than this, but when I tense up…”

“Can I ask what happened?”

Remus shrugged, then remembered Sirius couldn’t see him. “I don’t mind. It was a car crash when I was little. Crushed a few of my vertebrae which damaged the spinal cord. Took me a few years to get out of a wheelchair, and to this day I don’t have total mobility in my legs. But I get on alright.”

“Course you do,” Sirius said gently, reaching over and putting his hand on Remus’ thigh. “Sorry to hear it was an accident. I think I’m lucky mostly. I was born blind. Two months premature, and it caused my retinas to detach. They didn’t realise it straight away, so there was nothing they could do. I haven’t seen a thing in my life. Don’t know any different.”

Remus looked at Sirius’ grey eyes, watching them. The only real difference is the way they wandered back and forth, but if someone didn’t know, they wouldn’t have been able to tell. “Well, reckon we all just deal with whatever comes our way.”

Sirius snorted. “You learn that in a self-help book or something?”

“I think I read it on some feel-good, Facebook meme,” Remus offered, and Sirius threw his head back, laughing. 

“Oh Christ, Facebook. You one of those?”

“Fraid so,” Remus said. “A tragic personal failing.”

Sirius’ grin was so bright, Remus swore it could light a room. “So tell me what you do, Remus? Also I don’t know your last name and that’s weird.”

“Well, I don’t know yours,” Remus countered.

“It’s Black.”

He let out a breath. “Fine. Mine’s Lupin—and do not take the piss about it, please.”

Sirius’ mouth drew into a straight line, like he was holding back a laugh. “Fair enough. Mine’s no better, you know.”

Remus chuckled. “True. And to answer your other question, I’m a student, finishing up my graduate degree in astrophysics.”

“Like space. Like studying space?” Sirius asked, sounding like an over-excited child suddenly.

Remus laughed. “Sort of.”

“Will you be an astronaut? I always wanted to do that, you know. Go to the moon. Or Mars. Or…something. Anywhere else.”

Remus grinned, leaning his head back on the sofa cushion and he lost himself in the feel of Sirius’ hand stroking lightly along his thigh. “I wanted to live on the moon when I was little.”

Sirius moved closer to Remus, so they were now pressed side-to-side, and absently he found Remus’ hand, playing with his fingers gently. “I used to make Jamie describe the moon and the planets for hours and hours. One year he got tired of it, so he bought me a giant model of the solar system. He labelled it all in braille and everything, and Christ, I must have spent hours on that thing.”

“He did that for you?” Remus asked softly.

Sirius nodded. “Yeah.”

“And you want to replace him as best mate? You’re cold and heartless, Sirius.”

Grinning, Sirius turned slightly and brought his hand up to Remus’ shoulder. “Well, what if I didn’t want to replace him with you as best mate? What if I wanted…something else?”

Remus swallowed thickly. “You don’t even know me.”

“So? I fancy you anyway.”

“I’m not…I mean, I’m boring.”

“I met you fighting off a couple of bigoted twats at a pub, and got punched in the face for you. I think that qualifies as decidedly not boring, Moonbeam.”

Remus blinked at the nickname, and fought back the urge to put his hands on Sirius’ face and pull him in for a kiss. “Sirius, I’m really…”

“Will you stop trying to talk me out of fancying you? I know you’re cute—James was very clear about that one. And I think you’re funny and you swear a lot when you think no one’s listening. You have soft jumpers, and I think…and maybe I’m reading this wrong here…but I think you like me as well.”

“Hard not to. You’re gorgeous and you saved my life from a very near untimely demise.”

Sirius laughed quietly, drawing his face in so close, they were almost touching. “So I mean, call me crazy but I don’t see the problem here. And it’s magnanimous of me to say that without making a blind joke and here I am…not making one.”

Remus licked his lips and daringly brought his hand up, cupping it against the side of Sirius’ neck. “Alright,” he breathed.

Sirius stiffened for just a second. “Alright? Really?”

Remus laughed, still not kissing him. “Do people tell you no a lot?”

“You’d be surprised at how often,” Sirius said quietly. “No, Sirius, you can’t drive my car. No Sirius, you can’t get your piloting licence. No, Sirius, you cannot skydive off the top of Big Ben. It’s exhausting, really.”

“Christ,” Remus started, but he stopped when Sirius’ hand went very tight on him.

“Alright, I need to kiss you now. Like I need to breathe. Please, Remus? Or I may suffocate and die.” His hand moved, thumb coming across his skin to rest against the corner of his mouth.

Remus let out a puff of air. “Yeah. Yeah I think you’d better. For the sake of your life and everything. I mean, I’ve just got you so I wouldn’t want you to—mmhfph,” his words cut off as Sirius’ lips met his in a hurried manner.

Remus groaned at the touch of the soft lips against his, then the tongue slipped into his mouth and it was soft, warm, velvety against his own. Hands were everywhere after that, holding tight, tugging, grasping like if they let go, the other person might just disappear.

When they parted, and it lasted much longer than any first kiss Remus had ever had, they were both a little breathless. 

“Oh we are doing that again,” Sirius breathed right up against his lips. “You’re too good at that. There’s no way I’m letting you go. I’m afraid I have to keep you forever. For the sake of my life and kisses and stuff.”

Remus grinned, kissing Sirius again very softly before whispering, “Yeah, Sirius, I think you’d better.”


End file.
